Firering Strategic Minerals: From explorer to producer. Watch the video here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
Started: JAdams5000, 22 Sep 2023 07:13
Last post: smkr, 28 Sep 2023 14:06
Mate the state of your posting history.
OBD at 37p
“ This is just getting started. Market cap doesn’t reflect its world class position with balance sheet transformation and opportunities in other geographies. Going to go a lot higher than here. 13m volume already today!!”
Today hit 27p
Glass houses and all that
Hopefully no one got caught up in the ramping here
Started: scoredagainsteps, 22 Sep 2023 07:19
Last post: scoredagainsteps, 22 Sep 2023 07:19
What is there to be pleased about not making a profit . THERE not making enough .20 DINERS 11 million profit need to make 20000 a week gross per outfit . MY family are in this game
Results soon, I expect a few want to see numbers and will then buy considering the current cap. But we have a new growth strategy and opening new restaurants- will be a good forward statement imo. Plant your seeds early.
In latest report from our new tr1 holder.
Thirdly, we have invested into Comptoir Libanais a chain of around 30 Lebanese restaurants predominantly in the UK that have impressively traded profitably through both one of the toughest environments for the sector in living memory and boardroom disruption. Despite this resilience and the subsequent assembly of an impressive new board and leadership team, the sector and personnel headwinds saw the shares de-rate to a discount to the material net cash balance of the group, leaving a profitable, growing restaurant chain with a brand that references well trading at a negative value. The group floated in 2017 at 50p with 15 restaurants, it now has around 30, which are trading profitably with a net cash balance in excess of 6p/share but we have been able to invest in the company for less than 5.5p/share.
Whilst restaurants do not typically lend themselves to our investment strategy, the margin of safety provided by a net cash balance that was larger than the market cap and the resilience of the core business trading created a basis for further analysis. Further due diligence revealed the upside potential of a quick-service-retail franchise roll out via the international Shawa brand. This potential is to be explored under new CEO Nick Ayerst, who joined from a background at LEON and The Restaurant Group and Chair Beatrice Lafon who has an impressive private equity background, both of whom reference strongly. We have noted with interest the near doubling of the Net Promoter Score of the chain from the mid-40s to 80+ under the new team and, having visited a number of sites ourselves, there is noticeable improvement in the menus and their contents.
Started: JAdams5000, 6 Sep 2023 09:38
Last post: bobbyaxelrod, 13 Sep 2023 14:25
How could he do this? At 47.6% he is still classed as a "minority" shareholder (less than 50%) , so the most he could do is block special resolutions
Would it be as simple as proposing an offer of 2p to the board and then voting with his 47.6% holding in favour, and how many other shareholders would need to agree? Or he could just block any AGM resolutions until the board agrees?
If he takes it private at 2p it’ll be a painful lesson for PIs
They were also proposing to dilute the company (and him) at multi year lows. Look at it now, more cash than cap.
That’s the huge risk seeing as he has so many
Look at the reasons why all the old directors left
Started: Billthebank, 15 Aug 2023 16:56
Last post: smkr, 6 Sep 2023 09:26
Ceo begins his remit. Growth story starts here.
https://www.restaurantonline.co.uk/Article/2022/10/14/nick-ayerst-appointed-comptoir-group-ceo
Creeping up again. You should really research this. Great little growth story going on with franchises, new Ceo ex LEON and Restaurant group guy.
£9.9m cash and £7m market cap.
I can see it doing well into end of the year.
Tr1 buyer of the large sell other day.
Hungry? Feast with Tony, the founder and largest shareholder. Looks nice tbh!!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CwCVSDLollk/
It’s a pretty tight free float. I’m sure about 80% is held by ceo and others. Can be hard to buy at times when it gets busy. For me, sit and let value play out.. 10p cash
Looks that way. Huge trades cleared.
They’re arguably in better shape now than at IPO.
Good cash, 10p per share. Excellent Ceo who is experienced with franchise growth.
Had 15 restaurants at IPO now has 28
Floated at 50p lol
Looks like the seller is out.
They have 10p per share cash, currently 6p
Floated at 50p with 15 restaurants- now have 28
New CEO, ex LEON franchise / expansion guy and 15 years high up at Restaurant group.
Opened franchises in Qatar and Stansted airports.
£7m market cap. Yeah it’s low volume, but tuck a few away. It’s good value imo, in better shape than it’s ever been.
https://www.thecaterer.com/news/comptoir-group-restaurant-franchise-expansion
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-3652992/Pippa-s-favourite-restaurant-makes-50m-market-debut-Comptoir-Libanais-chain-founded-Algerian-street-boy.html
Looks undervalued. Trading below cash levels. Took a small position for a trade.
Started: NicW, 12 Oct 2022 18:54
Last post: NicW, 12 Oct 2022 18:54
Hi all, looks good this share. Valued less than cash value... BUT RNS advises majority shareholder looking to create personal wealth instead of shareholder wealth by their appointments. Is this something that can be taken up with the FCA if the share price continues to fall further. Really tempted but unsure of Tony's plans....
Appreciate thoughts from current holders (and warnings from bears). thanks
Started: doze, 3 Aug 2022 16:45
Last post: bobbyaxelrod, 31 Aug 2022 20:11
Wish we had more clarity on future plans, safety of the business, and reasons for the board changes. If Chaker Hanna starts to sell down his stake this may create downward pressure (may have already happened) but possibility improve liquidity and the tight float.
https://www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/article/taki-knifed-to-death-in-moment-of-madness
Must have a difficult year for Mr Kitous.
They have pressed ahead with the Stanstead opening being the first since the board changes. Hopefully more expansion to follow.
Seems to be more emphasis on leveraging the successes of Hannah but I think the staff will suffer as he worked closely with them and it was an early growth business still. The SP has not suffered but it cannot be a good time to mobilize merger/takeover deals for quick profit and the previous board were best for recessionary times.
https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/COM/board-changes-and-appointment-of-nomad-broker-ibv48v0ov1lxq1q.html
Started: bobbyaxelrod, 28 Jun 2022 16:13
Last post: bobbyaxelrod, 2 Aug 2022 11:48
The drama continues.
I wonder is Chaker Hanna will start selling down his stake now
Exactly my thoughts doze. I bought a couple of tranches during / after lockdown and took advantage of the recent spike to exit with a decent gain (which my portfoli greatly appreciated). I had always intended to jump back in when the opportunity presented, the results have been very encouraging. I am now hesitant to jump back in given this bit of news, coupled with cost of living crisis it makes it just that but riskier that I want to be right now. A statement to clear things up could push me one way or the other.
Is Kitous just throwing his weight around and has no real plan. Perhaps status quo prevsails here.
Seems the company is in a very healthy position atm. Looking at their financials and most recent performance they seemed to have done exceptional. Or am I missing something?
Would be good to understand kitous’ motivation. I know it says for his own financial gain and to further his own profile but would be valuable to hear his side. And what that actually looks like? Maybe someone on here more knowledgable than me could help explain?
The share price looks way undervalued to me. And reading into their plans for growth I was excited to see where they could get too in 12months - 2years time. Let’s see how it develops…
If 47.6% of shares in issue have voted not to reelect it is a slam dunk. Todays rns was necessary to preempt an SP crash which might have happened without a prior explanation but what his happening could result in a profit to existing shareholders if a takeover is planned by Kitous once he has his nominees in place.
Started: Bermondsey, 7 Apr 2022 11:14
Last post: bobbyaxelrod, 12 Jun 2022 13:08
Overall, a very good set of results. However, the company is right to emphasise the potential/likely negative implications of the tapering of government support as well as rising costs and the squeeze on discretionary budgets. The cash pile appears earmarked for expansion, which I hope they do wisely. Although I don't think it would be prudent to pay a dividend, I wish the report had more language suggestive of an intention to eventually pay one in the near future (as buybacks would make no sense given the small free float). Even if they are intending to sell the business to another restaurant group or private equity one day then it may still increase the perceived value of the business to include some dividend-positive language ("we intend to consider paying a dividend once we have reached point X in our expansion plans".
Stanstead airport opening was mentioned as being anticipated soon. They did say that they wanted to continue franchise openings (as a low capex way to expand, especially abroad), which seems a prudent way to grow the brand. It is difficult to understand why this remains so undervalued (relative to it's "fundamentals" as well as other restaurant peers), but the fact the shares are so tightly held must be a factor.
No reply from the company so far on my email to them. I did manage a small topup last week.
Hi Bobby. I am looking for strategic update re new openings. Stanstead Airport restaurant should be open soon according to news sources. I read somewhere there were 5 in the pipeline for 21/22. 3.5m spent on new opening costs in h1. Is this all related to Stanstead? I am surprised these are not capitalised. Revenue needs to be back to pre covid levels. A continuing focus on cost reduction. I think cash may be much reduced from h1 balance. Trade payables hit 9m these are short term liabilities and would likely have been settled by now. Its good to hear a glowing review from your last visit.
On a side note, I ate there today. Menu has been expanded with some good new options (I tried one which was very nice). Food was tasty as per usual and service was very good. Staff generally always seem to be pleased to be working there. On the business, I have no idea whether this was a wise or unwise investment decision, only time will tell. Worth 6m with over 9m cash at last count - do we think cash has been burnt down? They are generally cash flow positive (most of losses during previous years seem to have new restaurant openings and set ups as a big factor, which are then adjusted out in the aEBITDA).
Bermondsey,
I would imagine they are imminent. Results announced early June the last two (COVID affected) years but were out on April 9th 2019, the last non COVID affected year.
Having said that ... could still easily be another 2 months off.
I'm more interested in any year to date trading update and any expansion plans.
Expecting decent numbers and a still solid balance sheet.
Would be nice if the BOD had more to say for themselves but that doesn't seem to be their style.
Started: barnetpeter, 1 Jun 2022 14:33
Last post: barnetpeter, 1 Jun 2022 14:33
This 4 day holiday is going to be very good indeed for this type of company. All booked up I reckon......how many folk are not going abroad this year having seen the travel chaos? Me for one....I booked and paid for a Cunard cruise in July for me and the wife. All suddenly cancelled (money now returned). Not enough staff. Rubbish pay.
Started: fundamentalanalysis, 31 May 2022 11:27
Last post: Rare_Groove, 31 May 2022 13:04
Was dumped hard, will take months to get back to 11p but will go way beyond next time.
think i got a good price @ 7.3 looks like it is going to nil at this rate.
Started: draft, 30 May 2022 20:47
Last post: draft, 30 May 2022 20:47
is EMAN, still hasnt got back to its pre-covid highs, yet top film slate batman, top gun etc.
Last post: Rare_Groove, 30 May 2022 18:43
Well I bought mine in May last year and haven't added on the way down (perhaps I should have done). there was little point in me selling today at 11p after holding for 12 months. With the amount of shares in issue, this will probably pop again very soon to much higher than we saw today. I was tempted to sell today but I'd like to
see where this goes now over the coming months, IMO that could be several multiples of the current SP. Each to their own.
The ridiculous 10-25% spread here and low liquidity make the shares pretty much pointless to trade.
Yes the company got a lot of support but they have a lot of cash well above the current mkt cap. Over 11p today was a good time to sell some and I am sure many long termers did. However I am also sure we will have another move up soon with this an obvious target for a bigger firm. One to watch if it drifts back to about 6p…I will be watching carefully to buy back the ones I sold
Trotsky. Perhaps you should have posted this as well: All sites closed from 5 January 2021 for indoor dining, re-opened in April 2021 for outdoor dining and dine-in from May 2021. Sure there was 4m of covid related income, there was also significant disruption to operations due to covid. I wouldn't expect these disruptions in the future any more than the 4m you refer to.
Don't want to rain on the parade but these results include £4m of Covid-related support income. That's unlikley to recur in FY22, against which you have rising utility and staff costs and (likely) inevitable belt tightening by customers over the next 12-24 months. It seem likely that FY22 will be breakeven at best.
Balancing the books now, will be back to 18-20p by close on Wednesday.
It will go even more. :P
Good results. Impressive how much cash they have.
I think I would want to see another good year before got excited - a lot of this might be covid grants and staycation related.
Question is any other similar businesses in AIM likely to be posting up similar results. Well it s for me anyway given this is already 76% up. If had spare funds would have bought earlier but still with these jobs can take a day or two for the skeletons to come out the closet of why it got so cheap.
Started: Bermondsey, 21 Apr 2022 15:26
Last post: Nonegspleeze, 26 Apr 2022 18:54
Maybe not a leak then, just further proof, if needed, that COM can't service much demand without driving the price up.
Recent results from Fulham Shore, commented on below by Mark Watson-Mitchell from Master Investor, show that a company operating similar units, albeit four times the size and with a defined expansion program, has a market cap of £105m
IF the same metrics were applied pro rata, we would be looking at a minimum of 25p per share here.
Only difference being Fulham Shore shareholders enjoy a communicative relationship with their board of directors and brokers.
Any way up it shows we are absurdly undervalued.
They've got until the end of June to publish the annual accounts. I suspect something is coming soon given the sudden burst in trading. Not a great deal of communication from the Co in general.
I was literally just about to post the question you may possibly have answered before I asked it :)
25% rise has got to mean something but no news out there. When are the accounts due to be published?
Good set of accounts en route?
Started: bobbyaxelrod, 8 Mar 2022 01:03
Last post: bobbyaxelrod, 25 Mar 2022 15:39
Promising noises from Tasty and Everyman too. Consumer spend in Feb shows a rise in eating out spend.
Then the reverse today, £800 sell takes nearly 2% off the market cap.
Restaurant group reported full year results today (Wagga's, Frankie & Bennies, Chiquito) up 40%. Report below.The Restaurant Group [LON:RTN] has published full year results this morning, with sales up by around 40%. Obviously this has been driven heavily by COVID lockdowns, but more accurate pre-Covid comparisons show like for like sales increasing in all divisions except concessions, which remains constrained as a result of depressed air travel numbers. The company notes that again its outperformance has continued in the early part of 2022.
All looks healthy.
Bobby
Agree completely re the free float & working both ways. £5k buy this morning has put 2% on the market cap which is daft. Would love a trading update.
I have added here and there, but I am also wary because the share has not performed. I think this is mainly due to poor liquidity (generally within small caps and specifically for this share due to small free float) and low volumes, as well as absent communication from the company. However, all noises appear to be positive, it just depends on how their trading financials look. I do wish there was a plan for the director to reduce his share holding without crashing the price or dilution.
The small free float works both ways. I think based on pre-covid financials this should be worth multiples of current levels.
Wow, an actual conversation on the Com BB! Yes, great find.
I've been adding the last few weeks trying to a) get my average down, and b) be in front of the curve when results (or heaven forbid) a trading update, are announced. Very confident that we'll see the SP head North of last year's high. The market cap can not be sustained at this low level through any kind of normal trading and if there is any kind of expansion programme! Boom, off to the races.
Note that it looks as if the last two years finals have been Covid delayed, expecting them earlier this year. Keep the faith.
Started: Bermondsey, 3 Feb 2022 13:22
Last post: Bermondsey, 3 Feb 2022 13:22
https://www.moodiedavittreport.com/images-of-the-day-comptoir-libanais-and-hmshost-hail-reopening-at-dxb/
Worth an rns.
Originally opened just before the pandemic hit so never got the chance to properly get going.
I imagine there would be high rents for such a premium location .
Started: Bermondsey, 26 Jan 2022 11:15
Last post: Bermondsey, 28 Jan 2022 12:51
Bobbyaxelrod. Good analysis of comptoire peers. I jumped in here looking for a covid recovery play I didn't cash out on the rise because I came to the same conclusion re scope for expansion, plenty of room. I didnt appreciate how few Lebanese restaurants there are in the UK.
Hope the following is useful.
The IFRS accounting with the leases and right-of-use assets makes their balance sheet much worse, but yes they have implied their position when negotiating with landlords is strong, and said they have renegotiated a lot of leases onto lower rents/turnover based rents and exited other leases. I think when you excluded the lease related items their balance sheet is not in bad shape. Looking at their market cap of 6.75m: at the last interims 9.1m cash (with a 2.7m increase in payables) and 7.4m PPE against 3m in borrowings.
I would be interested in them expanding via franchises too, although we do not know the exact terms of these, I'd imagine the cost control side of things is more efficiently managed by an appropriately motivated franchisee. Comptoir Group already have a centralised facility from which to service their franchises. This solves the structural problem with the restaurant industry of costs rising (e.g. staffing) when times are good, then subsequently being too high when times are bad.
For the 5 years 2016-2020 they had an average adjusted EBITDA of £3m per year. I usually don't like seeing "aEBITDA", but I think their definition of it is somewhat fair, and closely matches their operating cash flows. Even a 10x multiple assuming no growth would give a market cap of £30m, or nearly 5x today.
For some perspective on the possible growth:
Nandos 450 restaurants in the UK, Toby Carvery 150, Miller & Carter >100, Bill’s 78, TGI Fridays 80, Wagamama 149, Slug and Lettuce 70, Harvester 220, Zizzi 130, Prezzo 207. Nandos makes a £40m loss on £1bn revenue. Wagamama bought for £560m; they have 6x the number of Comptoir Group restaurants, 560/6=£93m, then you can further discount the £93m to allow for stronger Wagamama brand and you still end up way north of £6.75m current market cap. There is around 160 total Lebanese restaurants in the UK at present.
Also, the Kaye family is behind Prezzo, Ask and Zizzi and invested £4.7m in the Comptoir Group IPO (around 10% of company). Jonathan Kaye was founder and CEO of Prezzo and listed in 2002 at a market cap of £9.1m, later selling to PG capital in 2015 for £304m. He grew Prezzo 13 year period to over 207 restaurants (also included Chimichanga 39 units).
So, I think much of the poor performance is related to the poor liquidity (the shares are very tightly held with a small free float). I think the directors hold too much. For example in the last week there have been 6 days with almost no trade as far as I can see. Hopefully the poor liquidity works both ways and this ends up flying. The other restaurants like Restaurant Group, Fulham Sore, etc, have not performed as badly as Comptoir Group.
Most importantly, the food, general offering, atmosphere and culture in Comptoir is excellent.
Trading below cash balance in the interims. Admittedly trade payables did increase with the cash balance. What opportunities have come about due to covid/ cheap leases? Please no more central london restaurants for now the place is a ghost town. Focus on the cities and larger towns outside of the capital. Increasing revenue on takeaways is key to growing revenue. Maiden profit!
What are you thinking they will update? Seems stupidly undervalued, but low liquidity has worked against it. My holding gets especially hurt by the spread. I will probably do another review at some point - I felt confident when I looked at it deeply so chances are I will add. For 6m you get 20-30 restaurants, generating each over 1m turnover in normal year, with some cash. Most of their liabilities are lease related, which has hurt how the balance sheet looks. Just surprised that the value here has gone under looked (although I am willing to concede that I may be completely wrong here!)
Not a word since the interim results in September. A trading update is required.
Started: Nonegspleeze, 16 Nov 2021 16:41
Last post: bobbyaxelrod, 18 Nov 2021 01:51
Hopefully... trading at (increasingly) less than their cash position. I am always tempted to add
Today's trading update from The Restaurant Group (Waggas, Frankie & Bennies) is encouraging. If Comptoir mirrors their performance the recent drift down to below 6p makes us look silly cheap.
Started: Bermondsey, 20 Oct 2021 13:06
Last post: Bermondsey, 26 Oct 2021 09:48
We absolutely need to take advantage of any weakness in the uk market. I work in Victoria and the devastation caused by the pandemic is there to see in the available food units. There must be some bargian properties up for rent, the right ones of course. I think there is probably some nervousness about a winter lockdown, or at least restrictions that would impact leisure / entertainment industry. I think we've got a great BS to weather another storm. I'm interested to hear how hard they have been pushing online sales, they seem key to getting us through the pandemic... I still haven't eaten in one of the restaurants.
We'll spotted Bermondsey. More to come? Still believe Comptoir absolutely perfect for expansion. Outlets are bright, colourful and welcoming, food is fresh, tasty, very affordable and appeals to so many cultures.
Started: Nonegspleeze, 29 Aug 2021 21:02
Last post: Nonegspleeze, 29 Sep 2021 10:29
Given only 3 weeks of trading without Covid restrictions and being completely locked down for the first 15 weeks, these results are outstanding. Well done to the board and staff.
CEO says
'We have seen solid performance in our London sites, which naturally remain impacted by the lower number of office workers and tourists. The regional sites have outperformed pre-pandemic 2019 levels and we have seen record levels of trading in a selection of sites. Importantly, all 21 sites are making a positive contribution at the profit level since reopening, highlighting the quality of the existing estate.'
Pressures obviously loom with the end of gov. support, supply chain issues and some difficulty with labour shortages. However, the strong balance sheet suggests opportunities adding prime sites to the estate are not only possible, but a board priority.
Whichever metric you use, Comptoir is great value & the SP does not factor in growth prospects.
I suggest any prospective investor here tries one of their restaurants.
These look good at first glance. Great cash management (9m cash vs 9m market cap). Positive ebitda each month. Loss is far reduced, could there be a full year profit? I suspect without covid we would have seen a profit this half. Positive statements from the directors. I am happy to hold here. I'll take a proper look at the FS tonight.
Nice to see a small move North today, first in a few months. Even nicer to see the spread much closer to being sensible.
Hopefully going to lead up to some nice results next week?
They would need to announce by the end of September if they want to take advantage of the covid exemption. Personally i don't see any benefit in delaying, these are pretty simple accounts. Perhaps the auditors offer a small discount if they can take a bit longer.
I note from last year that the half year results, announced Oct 20, were Covid delayed. Does anyone know therefore when we can expect this years half year results? I'm assuming late Sept but happy to be corrected.
Bermondsey, thanks for your continued input, really looking forward to a trading update.
Started: Bermondsey, 6 Sep 2021 14:37
Last post: Bermondsey, 6 Sep 2021 14:37
https://qsrmedia.co.uk/fast-casual/news/shawarma-bar-concept-shawa-open-in-west-london
I was under the impression the group owns a number of popup/Street food type stalls but I can't find any evidence of them anywhere.